


Charlotte

by RavynLiam



Series: Death Is Only The Beginning [1]
Category: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Original Work
Genre: Angst, Child Death, Death, Depression, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Love, M/M, Miscarriage, Multi, Other, Soulmates, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7965373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavynLiam/pseuds/RavynLiam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlotte fought hard for the life she carved for herself. The early 20th century could be unforgiving to a single woman. She took great pride in her work, but she never realized how much it drew her in or inspired her passion. It was time for Charlotte to get answers about her past...whether she wanted them or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charlotte

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing anything ever. So please leave feedback! This is a WIP so I'll be updating tags & warnings as I write. I'll also note them prior to each chapter.

She ran as fast as she could, her heels clapping loudly against the damp boards of the docks. Her skirt had ripped and it flapped indecently with the pumping of her legs. She could feel it chasing them. The darkness grew and grew behind her, gaining ground in her periphery. The unnatural darkness consumed the light from even the closest lampposts. A cold aura spread and chilled the sweat dripping down the back of her blouse making the breaths she huffed visible. It was getting closer. She could hear it snarling, could hear it pounding after them. It's claws raked against the metal walls and roofs of the warehouses. It was above them, taking the high ground to chase it's prey. It was too late for the professor and his assistant. She'd heard their screams and knew they were lost. The detective and the dame were just ahead of her and she didn't dare look back for Albert. The pair ahead of her kept running forward but she thought to duck to the left when this e never ending string of warehouses broke and ran to the first door she came to, praying it was unlocked. Miraculously, it was.

Charlotte found herself in one of the storage warehouses filled to the ceiling with wooden crates of all sizes. If there was any other way in or out of the dimly lit metal structure, it was either too high or blocked by the mountain of crates. She bolted the door behind her and slowly backed away from it. As she struggled to catch her breath, the horror of the night's events grabbed a hold of her. A strangled sob escaped her throat and her eyes burned with unshed tears. The Professor was her mentor and greatest ally against the naysayers. His assistant was no more than a boy. On the verge of a complete breakdown over her loss, the sight of her breath in front of her and the cold creeping into the warehouse halted everything. Her sorrow took a sharp turnabout back to abject terror. A single tear escaped and rolled down her face as she slowly turned to look with wide watery eyes at the pile of stacked crates behind her. Unholy darkness had enveloped her safe haven leaving only golden pools of light from the few high hanging lamps in the rafters. Fearing the worst, Charlotte slowly stepped away from the pile, entering a pool of light. That's when she saw...It.

Out of the darkness came a pair of glowing yellow eyes. So dark were the shadows that shrouded the thing that she could make out nothing but the disembodied eyes. Her body began to tremble violently with fear and exhaustion as she slowly took another step back, out of the light. Wrong move. A great black shape tore away from the darkness, jumping off the crates and landing mere feet in front of her. Charlotte stared with wide eyes as she took in the massive beast of shadow. She froze her movements as it stalked closer to her. Unable to breathe or think, she unwilling leaned away from those piercing yellow eyes and fell onto her backside into the next pool of light. When she looked up again the creature was in shadow, looming over her, growling low and menacing in its throat. She bit her lip, swallowed hard, and still trembling, met its gaze. Terrified as she was, Charlotte would die with as much dignity as she could manage. Her bright green eyes met the golden luminescent ones in a tense standoff as she held her breath waiting for the inevitable. The beast had paused suddenly to look at Charlotte's mouth then back to her eyes, then looked back to her mouth before returning its narrowed gaze to the lip caught in her teeth. The anger and malice left its face, replaced by puzzled look as it gazed deep into her eyes. It's gaze probed the deepest places of her soul making her feel naked and exposed. The longer it stared at her, the calmer she felt. After what felt like an eternity, she felt something different. Her natural curiosity kicked in. She couldn't look away from that stare, but her peripheral vision started cataloguing more than just its eyes. Even in shadow there was a glittering of gold all over him. He wore jewelry and had a loincloth of sorts over his lower extremities. Bare chested, but adorned with gold, he was definitively male.

Charlotte finally had to look away. There was so much of him to see. His accessories were clearly Egyptian. Quite similar to many things she had unearthed herself or seen in the museums. The only difference in his adornments was the lack of wear. There were no broken pieces or missing gems. The gold gleamed as if it were newly molded and polished. He had long, braided, black hair akin to the style of wig used in the ancient dynasties between his high pointed ears and a long tail that narrowed at the tip. His muzzle was long and pointed like the desert scavengers, like a jackals. He stood on the balls of his feet and the palms of what looked like taloned hands. His entire body was covered in very short, black fur. She fleetingly wondered if it was coarse or soft. Her final assessment was that he was some kind of giant mutant man dog. So engrossed in her curiosity she failed to note that his expression had changed again. When she looked back up at him he was looking at her with not a small amount of curiosity and a very arched brow. It was such a ridiculous expression on something that looked like a dog that she wanted to laugh. And was he smirking at her?! She started biting her lip again, as she was wont to do, and he immediately zeroed in on the action. Worried that she had gotten her favorite red lipstick on her teeth, again, she let her lip slip out and ran her tongue over her teeth. That earned her another arched expression from the shadow dog. She looked up with a petulant pout and opened her mouth, ready to give him a piece of her mind but he started to stand and the words died in her throat.

He shifted his weight and unfurled gracefully from his crouched position. Charlotte's eyes widened as he rose higher and higher. She swallowed audibly as he stood there. All of 7 or 8 ft of mutant man dog stood before her and all she could do was gape like a fish. They remained like that for several minutes. He standing over her, the very thin tip of his tail flicking against the floor like an impatient tapping finger. She sitting on the floor, skirt torn, blouse damp, glasses slipped to the end of her nose. He stared her and she stared him. Though she felt something more invasive, more probing from him. It felt as though he were looking for something, but he never tore his gaze from her eyes. He moved to get closer to her and her wandering gaze snapped back to his. He reached a hand out to her face and she went rigid. He hesitated for a moment, uncertain and gracefully sunk down to one knee before lowering the other so that he was straddling her legs. She swallowed loudly at that but he didn't move again until she looked up at him. When she did, his hand came slowly. She was sure he could hear the thundering of her heart but he simply looked into her eyes and moved very slowly. Ever so softly did he touch her cheek with the back of his hand. It was barely a touch. No more than the vaguest of breezes. His hand was warm and furry. It was then that she realized she wasn't cold anymore. That pervasive cold aura that was present wherever he went was gone.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and opened her suddenly closed eyes to look up at him. He looked at her so tenderly and with a sense of sadness. It made her heart falter and ache in her chest. A profound sense of pain of longing flooded her tiny frame. The urge to cry and lean against this...this thing was so strong and sudden she had to close her eyes again. Swaying a bit and swallowing hard against the lump in her throat, Charlotte looked up questioningly into a now familiar set of amber eyes filled with concern. She wanted to ask something but she didn't know what. While she mulled it over and chewed on her lip, she noticed a tug on the left side of his muzzle. He was giving her that absurd smirk again and she couldn't help but smile this time. She took a breath and opened her mouth to speak a second time but was interrupted by a loud banging on the door. She spun to face it and the creature crouched over her protectively. When she looked up at him, he was staring intently at the door and growling. The banging grew louder and faster and her now would be protector snarled more. She gently placed a hand on the side of his neck, suddenly more concerned for his well being than her own. He looked down at her determined expression, clearly startled by her touch, and they both looked back to the now silent door. From the other side, Charlotte heard Albert's voice.

"CHARLOTTE! CHARLOTTE ARE YOU IN THERE?! ANSWER ME!"

Charlotte worried her lip again as her anxiety grew. She was looking between the creature who was huffing through his nose and the metal door that hid her childhood friend. She warred with herself, suddenly torn for some unknown reason. 

"Go", she whispered. "Please, you have have to get out of here!"

He looked down at her again with a torn look of his own. How strange...He brought his hand up to her face again only this time she didn't freeze or pull away. She leaned into it and smiling softly, placed her hand over his. He was the one taken aback this time, stunned by her lack of fear. He hesitated to leave her. 

"I'll be fine. If they see you, they'll try to kill you."

He looked to the door again with the male pleading on the other side and huffed a growl. He looked at the small thing beneath him, her fierce expression, and did the unthinkable...he licked her face. Like a dog. She looked momentarily stunned. Then she laughed. Quietly, but her eyes sparkled the way he remembered. He mentally berated himself for being so ridiculous, but her reaction was worth it. It was enough. For now. He rose from his protective crouch and held out a hand to her. She looked so awed with her eyes wide, lips parted and her face flushed from his chase. Still, she didn't hesitate to take his hand. Nor did she shudder at touching him. The hope that flaired in him nearly brought him to his knees again. He tucked one of many a stray curl behind her ear and pushed her glasses up her nose in a very human manner before turning on all fours to bound his way up the mountain of crates. He paused at the top and had to look back at her. He couldn't believe that he had found her again. His relief and joy was dampened by the reality that he had nearly killed her...again. He shivered at the thought. She was looking after him. He hesitated a moment longer, but then the banging resumed. Charlotte started at the bang and turned to the door. When she looked back to the creature, he was gone.

Walking on suddenly unsteady legs, Charlotte went to the door and unbolted it. Before she could speak, Albert and the detective fell through the doorway at her feet. The fair haired dame stood there with some kind of weapon raised, shrieking for all the world like she was being murdered. Charlotte's face fell at the sight of the chemical blonde before she looked down ruefully at her bosom buddy.

"Al? You ok?"

"CHARLOTTE! You're alive! Oh, thank God!" 

He scrambled to his feet and hugged her tight. She smiled softly and hugged him back. He pulled away to asses any injuries she may have.

"I thought that monster got you!"

Charlotte's smile faltered a moment.

"Nope! Guess he gave up."

"He?", asked the detective with disdain. "That thing is a murderer. The professor and his assistant are dead. Who knows how many have been killed by it. We need to hunt it down before it kills anyone else."

Charlotte smiled tightly and tried to restrain herself. "Good luck with that detective. That 'thing' came out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly. I wouldn't tangle with it again if I were you, but I prefer breathing to pushing up daisies."

"Charlotte...", Albert moaned under his breath as the detective looked at her aghast. Charlotte just kicked her chin up, fixed her spectacles, and strode out the door.


End file.
